Confronting and coming to terms with the problem of evil is one of today's greatest psychological challenges.

It is useful for clinicians to acknowledge and address the reality of evil when working with trauma victims.

Forgiveness is possible only after accepting one's anger or rage about their traumatic encounter with evil.

This post is part 2 of a series. See part 1 here.

Horrific calamities can cause painful and precarious states of mind, rattling our religious or spiritual faith to its foundation and engendering despair, despondency, desolation, and sometimes, even suicidality. It is therefore essential that psychotherapists are properly trained and prepared to address such trauma-induced existential crises.

Recognizing the reality of evil

The initial step toward attaining this state of readiness is to discern, recognize, identify, and acknowledge the existence of evil in ourselves, others, and the cosmos. To do so, we must reclaim and clarify our vision regarding the presence of evil in the world, so as not to fall prey to it too readily. We cannot afford to continue to close our eyes to the existential reality of evil, be it of human or natural origin. The existential trauma of evil, and the intense emotions it inevitably evokes, is not something we can simply forget, rationalize, erase, escape, or run away from, though this is precisely what most trauma victims tend initially to do in various ways.

Psychotherapy after existential trauma

In psychotherapy, victims of evil—and I intentionally employ the term victim to acknowledge and encourage clients or patients to admit to themselves their own victimhood and the fact that we may, in certain circumstances, be completely powerless to prevent evil from happening to ourselves or others—must learn to courageously face and accept their suffering and “negative” reactions to trauma. They must also adopt a more mature, realistic perception of existence and themselves: a reconstructed, sturdier, supportive, more flexible platform, worldview, or existential foundation upon which to stand in life, one that can help them........

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